Vision Enabling
The Vision Enabling laboratory is part of the research going on in connection to the optometry education. Our research group is composed mainly of optometrists as a researcher and organizationally we belong to Section of Optometry and Visual Sciences. We work together for a long time with the group for visual optics at Royal Institute of Technology, KTH in Stockholm and other groups across the world in the short-term project.
Our research
Vision is one of the most important of our five senses. Humans rely on vision for many various things, such as reading, orientation, identification of objects, and balance. Ones quality of life can be affected if the optics of the eye or the retina are injured or if visual function is altered for some reason. Vision Enabling is a research and development program that aims to develop better methods to study the optics of the eye, optical and teaching devices to enable better use visual function and better techniques to evaluate visual function. We work manly with measurement of the optics of the eye and visual function, particularly focusing on the peripheral vision. The goal is to develop new methods and better knowledge about the use of residual vision-impaired and the development of myopia. Under the link to staff and research, you can see what the individual researcher’s focus is. The research is based on the Swedish low vision rehabilitation, which has internationally high standard.
SEnior
SEnior is a material and a methodology developed, for people with age-related changes in the macula (AMD). It is primarily intended for use in the four Nordic languages at the 70 low vision clinics in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The material consists of four printed booklets and two tests, and can be used by optometrists, vision educators and occupational therapists with special training. Of course, patients themselves can go through the material and texts to learn more. A manual is linked to the material and explain the methodology and principles. SEnior was developed in 2007-2008 and was launched in spring 2009 at over 20 seminars in the country. Support has obtained from the four countries of visual impairment organizations and Ekhagastiftelsen. Production has been sponsored by Multilens an in virtually any company that supplies equipment to low vision clinics. Materials can be ordered from www.indenova.se krister@inde.nu who are selling it on behalf of Linnaeus University.
Staff
Researchers
Jörgen Gustafsson
Associate Professor in optometry/Optician
Senior lecturer
Research interest: The use of peripheral vision in low vision rehabilitation and other possible applications. The goal is to find new ways to correct, train and measure the limited vision.
Baskar Theagarayan
Doctoral Student/Optometrist
Lecturer
Research interest: Myopia, Accommodation and Ocular Aberrations.
Peter Lewis
Doctoral Student/Optician
Lecturer
Research interest: Peripheral visual function with emphasis on moving (dynamic) stimuli. The research objectives are primarily to develop better methods to investigate peripheral visual function in patients with central visual field loss (CFL) and secondarily to see if it possible to improve peripheral visual function, by training, in healthy subjects as well as in subjects with central visual field loss.
Karthikeyan Baskaran
Doctoral Student/Optometrist
Research interest: I am currently working on my PhD titled “Optimal use of Peripheral Vision”. We use an open-field aberrometer COAS-HD VR to measure off-axis refraction and aberration in both normal subjects and central visual field loss (CFL) subjects using eccentric viewing. The final aim is to investigate visual improvement in CFL subjects after correcting the optical errors in the periphery.
Administrative staff
Carina Jonsson
Assistant Optician
Administrative support for research and education.
Partnership
Partners
Atalanta Vision Loss Center
http://www.biox.kth.se/research/visualoptics/visualoptics.htm
Biomedical and X-Ray Physics
http://www.varrd.emory.edu/
Links
ISLRR
International Society for Low Vision Research and Rehabilitation http://www.islrr.org/